- December 5, 2025
Thom Shepherd is the writer of five No. 1 singles including “Redneck Yacht Club” and “Riding with Private Malone.”
Coley McCabe is currently touring in Texas and all over the country with her husband Thom Shepherd. “This Ain’t the 60’s” was a top 15 hit on the Texas charts. Courtesy photo
Tyler Reeve first cut his teeth performing on the college scene in Tallahassee. Moving to Atlanta then Nashville, Tyler turned his focus to songwriting, establishing himself as both a performer and co-writer. Courtesy photo
Singer-songwriter Aaron Barker is best known for the string of hits he wrote for country superstar George Strait. Courtesy photo
Anthony Smith is a critically acclaimed singer-songwriter. His record "If That Ain't Country" produced three Billboard top 40's. Courtesy photo
Originally from Warm Springs, Georgia, Brett Jones came to Nashville 28 years ago. Since then he has had over 150 major label recordings, and 14 top 10 records, including seven No. 1 records. Courtesy photo
James Slater is a two time Grammy nominated, piano-playing, bilingual singer-songwriter of Bolivian American descent. Courtesy photo
Jesse Rice is a multi-platinum selling and award-winning singer-songwriter and producer in Nashville, Tennessee. Courtesy photo
Lee Miller is the current president of the Nashville Songwriter’s Association International and spends time in Washington D.C. representing and lobbying for the rights of the American songwriter. Courtesy photo
A first of its kind for Flagler County, the Palm Coast Songwriters Festival this weekend will showcase nine country artists at three outdoor venues.
Unlike a music festival where audience members listen to song after song from a full band, a songwriter festival provides a unique, more intimate experience between the artist and the listener, as the songwriters will often share the meaning behind their lyrics, said Thom Shepherd, County Music Artist of Texas Songwriter of the Year and one of the festival organizers.
“It’s a really magic kind of experience,” Shepherd said. “I think people are going to love it. It’s one of those things where you don’t really get it until you see it, so we’re hoping everybody comes out to check it out. Once you see it, you’re hooked.”
Shepherd teamed up with Garry Lubi, senior vice president/commercial banking at CenterState Bank and David Ayers, of Flagler Broadcasting, to brainstorm this event over the last couple years. For the last six months, the trio have worked to secure nine songwriters, including Shepherd, and three venues: Veterans Park in Flagler Beach for “First Friday,” the Daytona State College Palm Coast Amphitheater and the Palm Coast Arts Foundation stage.
Lubi and Shepherd got to know each other through the music scene in Nashville before Lubi moved around the county and eventually ended up in Flagler County in 2007. Their friendship goes back to 1996.
“With Garry living in Nashville for years, he saw the Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival in Nashville, and he wanted to bring something like that to Florida — to the Palm Coast, Flagler Beach area,” Shepherd said. “So, a couple years ago he said, ‘Well, what do we have to do to bring something like that here?’ I said, ‘Well, I just have to call a few folks.’”
With free admission to all three shows, Ayers and Lubi envision that the event will start a tradition of an annual songwriters festival in Flagler County — similar to the yearly Key West Songwriters Festival and the Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival in Nashville, the largest songwriters festival in the world.
“Our vision for this whole thing is that it becomes an annual event, that we grow it over time,” Lubi said. “Today, nine writers was a size that we felt comfortable with. … There’s a time frame where we could end up having 20 or 30 writers and even grow it up to 50 or 60 writers someday.”
Ayers said that kicking off the festival at “First Friday” suits the character of the event — locals gathering to hear from songwriters to learn about their backgrounds while getting to know each other in a welcoming space.
“These are national people that are very busy, and the fact that Thom has gotten people of this caliber to come here and to perform here, we need a good turnout to show support for it,” Ayers said. “It’s kind of a new cultural turn on for Palm Coast.”
The festival is presented by the Palm Coast Observer, KIX Country 98.7 and Palm Coast and the Flagler Beaches (VisitFlagler.com). Visit https://palmcoastsongwriters.com.
